Ball lifting game



June 15, 1943. F. M. NEW 2,322,155

BALL LIF'I'ING GAME Filed Aug. 12. 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. FRED M. N w.

Jam wy/hl June 15, 1943.

F. M. NEW

BALL LIFTING GAME Filed Aug. 12, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. FRED M. NEW

Patented June 15, 1943 UNETED STATES PATENT OFFICE BALL LIFTING GAME Fred M. New, New York, N. Y. 7

Application August 12, 1941, Serial No. 406,457 (01. 273-420) 7 Claims.

This invention relates to game apparatus and more particularly to game apparatus of the type in which one or more missiles or balls are shifted successively onto various planes before the game score may be indicated.

It is an object of the present invention to provide inclined track means for guiding of and causing motion to a ball or missile to be played with.

Another object of the present invention is to provide movably arranged means for carrying inclinedly disposed track means, the same being .1

preferably arranged one above the other on the support and in spaced apart relation from each other.

A further object of the present invention is to provide means for moving a ball carrying means into alignment with and then past said inclined track means whereby a ball may be discharged onto said inclined means and may move or roll therealong to a scoring receptacle or score indicator.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide scoop-like means forming said ball carrier means which when moving past the inclined track means abut against the latter and turn over or tip to discharge the ball on one of the inclined track means. I

Yet, another object of the present invention is to provide transmission means preferably at either side of the inclined track means, the ball carrier means being so arranged on said transmission means, respectively, that while one of the scooplike means loaded with a ball is discharging its ball onto one of said inclined track means, another of said scoop-1ike means may or may not catch said ball when it rolls down to the end of said inclined means. 7

Still another object of the present invention is toprovide in an apparatus of the above nature common driving mechanism for moving the transmission means in one and the same direction.

A further object of the present invention resides in the provision of transmission means which preferably during the course of the game are capable of being displaced with respect to each other (for instance, through slippage) so that the ball carrier means may be moved relatively to one another and thus the game conditions varied which make the game inciting and more interesting. Y

It is still another object'of the invention'to provide transmission or belt means of stretchable and/or adjustable material to bring about the aforementioned effect.

In its general aspect this invention aims at the construction of a ball game apparatus including successively and fixedly disposed oblique track means and alternate carrier means movably arranged at either side of said track means, one of the carrier means on one side being adapted to transport and discharge a ball onto one of said track means and another carrier means at the other side of said one track means bein adapted to then catch said ball at the end of said one track means, so that the ball may be transferred by said alternate carrier means to other or upper track means in order to attain higher scores.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will appear from the following disclosure thereof together with the attached drawings which illustrate a certain form of embodiment thereof. This form is shown for the purposeof illustrating the invention since the same has been found in practice to give satisfactory and reliable results, although it is to be understood that the various instrumentalities of which the invention consists-can be variously arranged and organized andthat the invention is not limited to the precise arrangement and organization of the instrumentalities as herein shown and described.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of an embodiment made in accordance with the invention, a part being broken away. I

Fig.2 is'a rear elevationalview of the mechanism employed in the embodiment of the invention shown in Fig. 1.

Fig.3 is a cross sectional view alonglines 3-3 of Fig. 1 and Fig. 2. v

Fig. 4 is a detail elevational View (partly in section) of the operating ratchet forming part of said mechanismand looking in the direction of line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a detail view showing the ball retainer in operation by one of the ball carriers.

Fig. 6 is a partial view of the belt with one ball carrier and ball in in-operative position, and showing also a portion of one of the track means. Fig."7 is a view similar to that of Fig. 6, but showing the ball carrier in operative position, in which a ball is discharged from said ball carrier.

Fig. 8 is a top view of Fig. 6 (the track portion and ball bein omitted) Fig. 9 is a perspective detail view of the ball carrier properl Referring now particularly to the drawings, there is disclosed in Fig. l a housing in having a front wall II which is provided with an opening l2 to receive therein a glass panel 13 through which the course and progress of the game may be observed. Behind glass l3, there is provided partition or central wall M and side walls l5, l6. Within the space provided between each side wall and said central wall l4, belts N, Na, respectively, are arranged for movement, which belts form transmission means for ball carrier elements as will be hereinafter further explained.

On wall i4, there are fixedly positioned by means of screws I9 sloping track means 20 to 25 the same being spacedly and inclinedly disposed with respect to each other. Side walls I5, l6, respectively, are provided with cut outs 25, 21 forming openings for scoring receptacles 28, 28a. for a purpose as will be later described, In the lower part 29 of housing H3, there are disposed handle 30 of the driving mechanism of the apparatus, ball release lever 3|, coin slide mechanism 32 and cash box 33.

As it is well known in the art upon insertion of a coin (not shown) into coin slide 32 and upon operation thereof ball release lever 3| may be actuated to successively release balls from a ball collector (not shown) so that one ball after the other may be brought into the game, each ball passing through opening 35 in wall l4, as it is seen in Fig. 1.

When, say, ball 34 is thus discharged from opening 35 the ball drops on guide rail 36 and moves down said rail 36 onto a ball carrier element l8 fixed to transmission belt It. In the event, however, that no ball carrier I8 is moved to arrive at the end of rail 36 to receive ball 34, the latter will drop and fall onto a spring retainer member 31 which is fixed to the rear face of front wall II, as at 31a, and which in its normal position projects to face belt H, as seen in Fig. 3.

Upon further rotation of handle 30 the belt mechanism hereinafter more fully described, causes movement of both belts I1, Ha in the same direction (arrow X). As soon as ball carrier lad is moved with belt H to arrive at spring member 3'! it will cause that the free end 38 of said member 31 is pressed into opening 38a provided in front wall II and carrier |8a will now receive ball 34 which was held by said end 38 prior to the engagement of said carrier with said end (Figs, 3 and The ball may then be moved upwardly during the course of the game by still turning handle 30 in the direction of arrow Y until the end 40 of the ball carrier |8a abuts against the upper end 400. of track rail 20 (Figs. 6 and 7). At this moment, and, as it is shown more clearly in Fig. '7, the ball carrier I80. discharges ball 34 onto track 20 on which it rolls down in the direction of arrow A where it may be received by ball carrier |8b fixed to and moved with transmission belt l'la.

While still turning handle 30 in the direction of arrow Y, ball carrier |8b on transmission belt Ila may now be lifted until it reaches the upper end 401) of rail 2| with which it engages to bring about the discharge of ball 34 onto said rail 2| in a manner, as it has been explained with respect to carrier |8a. Ball 34 may then roll down in the direction of arrow B and may be caught by another carrier i8 on transmission belt H. In the event, that the ball runs down beyond end of rail 2| and in the direction of arrow B the ball may fall into one of the channels 26a, 26b, 260

or 26d of scoring receptacle 28 and is thus counted in the game in any known manner.

Reference is now made to the driving mechanism of the apparatus. As it will be realized from Figs. 1 and 2, belts I1, Ila, which are preferably triangular in section are trained over pulleys 4| and 42; 43 and 44, respectively. Pulleys 4| and 43 project into cut outs 4|a, 43a, respectively, of the central wall I4 and respective adjacent walls I5, Iii and are fixed to rotatable shaft 45 which is secured by means of brackets 46, 46a to the upper wall 41 of housing [0; whereas pulleys 42 and 44 are fixed to shaft 48 which in turn is rotatably mounted in bearings 49, 49a positioned on the rear face of central wall l4. Fixedly mounted on shaft 48 is bevel gear 50 for a purpose later described.

As it will be obvious, pulleys 4| to 44 over which belts ll, l'la, respectively, are trained, are triangularly grooved to correspond to the triangular shape of the transmission belts. On the flat surface of each transmission belt Ila there is spacedly arranged a number of ball carriers ill, the ball carriers of belt being staggered with respect to the ball carriers of transmission belt Ha.

As clearly shown in Figs. 6 to 9, each carrier comprises a relatively flat portion 5| to which a curved portion 52 is joined thereby forming a scoop-like ball carrier or lifter member. Depending from portion 5| are two lugs 53, 54 through the perforations 55 of which passes bolt 56. One end 56a of bolt 56 is screwed into or otherwise fixed to its respective transmission belt. Between lugs 53, 54, there is positioned a helical spring 5'! surrounding the bolt part extending between said lugs, one end 58 of said spring 51 abutting against the underface of portion 5| of the ball carrier, the other end 59 engaging a bolt 60 also fixed to the transmission belt in a manner similar to that of bolt 56. It will thus be apparent, that if the free end 40 of ball carrier, say, |8a, abuts against 40a of track means or rail 26, the carrier is tipped against the action of the helical spring 51, which will be first tensioned and when the ball carrier |2a is moved past the track end 40a, the spring 51 will be released and actuates to move carrier |8a back to its normal position (Fig. 6), thereby urging curved part 52 of the carrier into engagement with bolt 60. It is to be observed that the upper ends of the oblique track means 20 to 25 project into the path of the movable ball carriers, whereas the lower ends of said track means are so disposed that they allow free movement of said carriers past them, however, the'latter may be brought into alignment with said lower ends in order to catch a ball after it reaches the lower end of a respective track means.

The above mentioned mechanism for the transmission belts is controlled by handle 30, the latter being keyed to shaft 5| which passes through the lower part 29 (front wall H and central wall M) of the housing If] and which fixedly carries adjacent its end a ratchet wheel 52. Freely rotatable on shaft 5] are arranged lever 52a having linked thereto dog 52b for engagement with said ratchet wheel 52, and further bevel gear 53 for engagement with bevel gear 50. As it is well understood, upon rotation of knob or handle 30, shaft 5| may be turned in direction of arrow Z to bring about engagement of ratchet wheel 52 with dog 52b, and thus rotatable movement will be imparted to bevel gear 53 which in turn presses against and meshes with bevel gear 50, whereby shaft 48 and also belts l1, Ila will be always moved in the same direction.

It is obvious that rotation of handle 30 in opposite direction will not cause operative engagement of the teeth of ratchet wheel 52 with dog 521), the latter rather sliding over said teeth.

Itfollows from the above that although direction of movement of the transmission means ll, 11a is predetermined, the swiftness of rotation of the handle 30 may be controlled by the person operating the apparatus. I 1

Since belts ll, Ila may be made of any known and suitable materiahthe same may be subjected to a stretch during operation of the apparatus, thereby bringing about a certain slipping effect so that the alternate positions of the ball carriers or lifters of one of the belts may be changed with respect to that of the ball carriers or lifters of the other of the belts. It is evident that when using chain structures one chain may be adjusted with respect to the other one to bring about a relative displacement between opposed carriers. In other words, by virtue of the stretchability or adjustability of both transmission means, one may be elongated with respect to the other whereby the ball carriers on said transmission means may be so displaced and disposed that diflerent staggered relationships may occur durin the progress of the game. 7 I

In this connection it is to be noted that the glass panel l3 also serves the purpose of preventing the belts ll, Ila from withdrawing or removing from their positions within the respective spaces provided between the central wall i l and side walls l5, l6, respectively.

Briefly stated, the operation of this apparatus is to move and discharge each ball released for the game, by one of the lifters or ball carriers fixed to one of the transmission means onto an upper end of one of the track means and to then move the transmission means in such manner that one of the lifters or ball carriers on the other transmissionmeans comes to lie adjacent the lower end of said one track means and may there catch the ball rolling down to and arriving at said lower end. The ball, when thus caught, may then be moved by said one ballcarrier of the other transmission means onto the upper end of a second track means positioned above said first mentioned track means, where said ball will be discharged in a manner herein described and rolls down said, second track means. A ball carrier of said one transmission means must now be 7 moved quickly enough to receive said ball at the lower end of said second track means after which said latter ball carrier may transfer said ball to the upper end of a third track means positioned above said second and first track means.

The steps just mentioned may be repeated until each ball reaches the lower end of the uppermost track means 25 (unless previously scored or lost) and when caught there, will be discharged from its carrier, when the end of same during further movement of the transmission means comes into contact with abutment pin Ill, causing thereby turning over of the carrier and throwing out or the ball which may then fall into one of the channels of one of the scoring receptacles placed at either side of the apparatus play fields (side walls) l5, l6.

As it can be easily realized, the skill of a person operating the apparatus may be influenced by hazardous momentums imparted by the operator and/or by hazards produced by arranging on the play field parts I5, l6 pins H of any known structure which may vary movement and path of ,a ball falling in thedirection of one of the scoring receptacles.

.It is well understood, that in the event a ball cannot be caught by the operator with .a carrier at the lower enclof a track means, the ball will drop into one of the channels of one of the scor ing receptacles, will then be counted and cannot be played again in the same game.

After allballs of the game have been thus played, theapparatus may be reset to its initial position for renewed operation in any known manner by insertion of a further coin.

While there has been shown and described and pointedv out the fundamental novel features of the invention as applied to the above embodiment, it will be understood that various admissions and substitutions and changes in the form anddetails of the apparatus illustrated andits operation may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the in vention. l

Having thus described the invention what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is: I

1. An apparatus of the character described comprising a central wall, a side wall positioned on either side of and spaced from said central wall, track means inclinedly arranged on. said central wall and having upper and lower ends, transmission means adjacent either end of said track means and movablyarranged within the space between said central wall and each side wall, and a plurality of spaced apart carrier means hinged to said transmission means, the upper ends of said track means projecting into the path of movement of said carrier means, whereby upon abutment of one carrier .means against said upper end of one track means a ballwhen placed on said one carrier means may be discharged therefrom to roll down onto said one track means whereas another carrier means when moved by said transmission means to adjacent the lower end of said one track means may catch the discharged ball rolled down to the lower end of saidone track means. i

2. An apparatus of the character described comprising a central wall, a side wall spacedly arranged from and positioned on either side of said central wall, individual track means inclinedly arranged in superposed relation on said central wall and having upper and lower ends, transmission means adjacent either end of said track means and movably arranged within'the space between said central wall and each side Wall, spaced apart carrier means pivoted for swinging movement on said transmission means, and means to move said transmission means with said carrier means into and out of alignment with said track means, the upper ends of said track means projecting into the path of movement of said carrier means, whereby upon engagement of one of said carrier means with said upper end of one of said track means a ball when placed on said one carrier means may be discharged therefrom onto said one track means whereas another carrier means when moved by said transmission means to adjacent the lower end of said one track means may catch the discharged ball at the lower end of said one track means.

3. A ball game apparatus comprising a support, a plurality of spaced stationary and oblique track means arranged on said support in superposed relation, each of said traclcmeans having an upper and a lower end, an upper end of one of said track means being positioned in proximity of the lower end of an adjacent track means, resiliently supported carrier means arranged .to move past the lower end of each of said track means and being of a length so-as to abutagainst the upper end of each of said track means, and means to move said carrier means, whereby one of the carrier means may transfer acball thereon to engage with an upper end of one of said track means for discharge of said ball, which maybe caught by another of said carrier-means moved for position at the lower end of said one track means.

4. A ball game apparatus of the character de scribed comprising side walls forming play field parts, an intermediate wall spaced from each of said side walls, an endless transmission belt extending within each of said spaces and arranged for longitudinal movement in said spaces, roller means supporting said transmission belts, driving mechanism operatively connected with said rollers for moving said belts in the same direction, lifter means hingedly secured in spaced relation on each of said belts, the lifter means of one of said belts being arranged in staggered relation to the lifter means of the other of said belts, and track means inclinedly disposed on said intermediate wall and having each an upper and a lower end, each upper end being so disposed that each lifter means abuts thereagainst during movement of said transmission belts and is caused to tip and to discharge a ball when carried thereon. onto a respective track means, whereby said ball may roll down beyond the lower end of said respective track means and across one of said side Walls for scoring purposes.

5. A ball game apparatus of the character described comprising a housing having an open front, a partition within said housing and comprising a central wall, and a side wall forming play field parts spacedly arranged and at either side of said central wall, endless transmission means extending within said spaces between said central wall and each of said play field parts and arranged for movement within said spaces, roller means supporting said transmission means, driving means operatively connected with said rollers for moving said transmission means in one direction only, lifter means hingedly secured in spaced relation from each other on each of said transmission means, a glass panel ciosing said open front and forming means with which some of said lifter means cooperate to retain said transmission means within said spaces, and track means inclinedly disposed on said central wall and having each an upper and a lower end, each upper endbeing so disposed that each lifter means abuts against said upper end during movement of said transmission means and is thus caused to tip and to discharge a ball when carried on said lifter means onto one of said track means whereby said ball may roll down and beyond the lower end of said one track means and across one of said play field parts for scorll'lg purposes.

6. An apparatus of the character described comprising a support, stationary spaced apart means inclinedly arranged with respect to each other on said support, and spring actuated carrier means provided with a curved surface adapted to transport a missile thereon and arranged for movement in and out of alignment with the ends of said inclined means, said inclined means projecting with their upper ends into the path of movement of said carrier means, whereby said carrier means when abutting against one of said inclined means is tipped against the action of its spring and discharges said missile for scoring purposes.

7. A ball game apparatus of the character described comprising a supporting wall, at least two separat oblique track means having each an upper and lower end and positioned on said wall, the upper end of one of said track means being positioned next to the lower end of the other of said track means, and scoop-like means arranged for movement endwise of said track means and along said supporting wall, the upper end of each of said track means projecting into the path of movement of said scoop-like means, whereby one of said scoop-like means when carrying a ball may engage an upper end of one of said track means and may discharge said ball on the latter, whereas another of said scoop-like means when movedzto the lower end of said one track means may catch the ball rolled down to the lower end of said one track means, said other scoop-like means being adapted to move said ball toward the upper end of the other of said track means, thereby abutting thereagainst and discharging said ball from said last-mentioned scoop-like means to cause rolling down of said ball onto said other track means for scoring purposes.

FRED M. NEW. 

